


how you get the girl

by ladybex



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Affectionate snuggling, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amusement Parks, Bathroom Sex, Ben can cook because his momma didn't raise her son to not be self sufficient, Ben has problems expressing himself, Cunnilingus, Enemies to Lovers to Friends to Lovers again, F/M, Family Reunions, Flirting, Friends With Benefits, HEA Guaranteed, ITS UNDER THE STARS SO ITS CLASSY OKAY?, Kinda, M/M, Miscommunication, Now with more smut, Oral Sex, Outdoor Sex, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Smut, The great lakes are actually pretty cool tbh, Woman on Top, don't worry it all makes sense, like the slightest, not so casual hook ups, oh look there is some actual plot!, slight angst, so does Rey though, someone is catching feelings, talking is hard, time jumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2019-10-02 14:26:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17265809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybex/pseuds/ladybex
Summary: Ben Solo meets Rey Niima at a house party thrown by their mutual friend, Poe Dameron. The attraction is instant, but so is the loathing. After hooking up, they swear to each other that it's only going to be a one time thing. Until it's not.---my submission to the Reylo Charity Anthology.*title taken from How You Get the Girl by the Queen Reylo herself, Taylor Swift





	1. one.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited to get to share this fic with you all! If you donated to the RCA and managed to get all the way through the PDF, this was near the end, and you'll notice a few slight changes in this chapter. Nothing plot wise, just a few word changes here and there done after I've read it over and over again several times in the last couple months. 
> 
> shout out to the incomparable [weddersins](https://twitter.com/weddersins/) for beta reading this for me, thank you for being the best beta and cheerleader a girl could ask for.

As a month, March is always kind of hit or miss in Ben’s opinion. The weather in Pennsylvania is a straight up cluster fuck this time of year, not quite winter but never truly spring either; it’s enough to drive anyone mad. So of course, when they get an unexpected 70 plus degree day near the end of the month, Poe decides he’s throwing a party to celebrate.  
  
What exactly, Ben’s not totally sure. He’s been up to his ears in medical school books these past few months and hadn’t even realized it was nearing April until Poe pointed out that they haven’t hung out since Ben started his semester. He tried to argue that it had only been a few weeks, when in actuality, it had been a few months.  
  
For someone so smart, Ben can kind of be an idiot sometimes, but at least he’s self-aware right?  
  
So that’s why Ben finds himself in Poe’s apartment on a Friday evening, nursing a beer and making small talk with a bunch of people he doesn’t really know, something he hates, with his best friend nowhere in sight. Because what sense would it make for the host to actually be at the party?  
  
“How do you know Poe?” a petite, vaguely familiar blonde asks as they stand on the back deck of Poe’s apartment.  
  
“Uh. We served in the Marine Corp s together. Three years in the same unit, until I got discharged after breaking my pelvis. Poe left another year or so after that? Bought this apartment complex and gave me an escape from student housing.”  
  
The familiar blonde raises her eyebrows and gives Ben a funny little nod before offering up some thanks for his service and an unnecessary apology for his time being cut short. It’s genuine and sweet, and normally Ben would assume he’s being hit on, except he’s caught this girl scanning the crowd too many times in the last three minutes to think that.  
  
“Don’t worry about it. I joined the Marines because I didn’t have any direction and I thought I would end up with some there. Breaking my pelvis was the best thing that could have happened to me, the doctors were so amazing through that whole experience that as soon as I was cleared to do so, I enrolled in Pitt with the intention of going to medical school here too,” he explains to the blonde who just smiles and nods, in a way that’s friendly and familiar and Ben has really got to start paying attention better because it’s almost like this girl has heard this before.  
  
Because while Ben hasn’t gotten out much lately, when he does he never really has a problem with the opposite sex. Especially when they hear about the Marines. Not that he uses that as a line or anything, it just gets brought up sometimes and it’s not his fault that it makes woman want to shove their tongues down his throat.  
  
“So uh… how do you know Poe?”  
  
The blonde girls laughs and shoots him a look that says _are you serious right now?_ that makes him vaguely uncomfortable, because clearly he’s missing something here.   
  
“Ben, I’ve been your neighbor for almost two years. Dude, I know medical school is exhausting, but come on man,” she laughs as a cute little Asian girl appears next to her and plants a kiss on her cheek.  
  
That’s when it hits him.  
  
“Shit. Uh. Tallie and um… Parker?” he asks genuinely to the two women, a snap of his fingers as he tries to remember both names.  
  
The dark-haired girl holds out a hand and introduces herself, “Paige, but close enough.”  
  
“Fuck, yeah, sorry. I swear I knew who you were. My brain is fried from school,” he tells them as if it’s a good excuse. The women don’t look offended though, just laugh and reassure him it’s fine.  
  
“I’m in law school right now, so I feel you Ben,” Paige says as she pulls her girlfriend away to dance on the makeshift dance floor someone set up in the community yard for their complex.  
  


* * *

  
  
Thankfully, before he has a chance to embarrass himself further, Poe finally shows up. Underneath one arm is a dark-skinned man who has to be good few years younger than Ben, who in turn is a couple younger than Poe and trailing right behind them is a brunette who must be even younger. But not too young, judging by her grey and red CMU shirt. Poe catches his eye from across the yard and waves Ben over, and he spends the entirely too short walk trying to get a good look at this mystery girl.  
  
She’s breathtaking.  
  
Ben’s not even up close yet and he can tell that this might honestly be one of the most beautiful girls he’s ever seen. The view only gets better the closer he moves through the throng of people dancing to whatever shitty music is playing right now; chestnut brown hair that grazes her shoulders, remarkably tanned skin on long legs that peak out from under a denim skirt and when he gets close enough he can tell her eyes are a startling shade of hazel, not the brown he had initially thought.  
  
“Hey Ben, sorry I left you to the wolves. Finn here had car trouble, so I went and rescued these two from the CMU campus,” Poe tells him as he gestures to the two people standing next to him, and Ben quirks his lips up in a small smile when the guy who is nestled into Poe’s side offers his hand and introduces himself as Poe’s boyfriend.  
  
When he turns his eyes back to the girl, he’s taken aback by her staring at him too. She’s looking up at him through long lashes, her lips are slightly parted and a surprised look on her face. The Christmas lights someone strung up are glinting off her lip gloss and _goddamit_ he would really like to find out if it’s flavored or not.    
  
“Ben… uh… Ben Solo,” he somehow manages to get out after tearing his gaze away from hers, and when she takes the offered hand and shakes it, he swears there’s some sort of current that travels between the two of them.  
  
“Rey Niima,” she tells him in return, and he’s surprised by the accent; soft and distinctly British.  
  
“Oh, you’re from the UK then?” he asks, because it seems natural to point it out, even if it’s weird because obviously she’s British.  
  
Instead, Rey pulls her hand away from him and crosses her arms across her chest, her whole face darkens in the process.  
  
“Arizona actually. Tucson.”  
  
“Oh uh. I just meant… your accent,” Ben says, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, because well, this is awkward.  
  
“No, everyone in Tucson talks in a British accent, didn’t you know?” she says with a huff before she pushes her way past him and heads off to the deck area.  
  
Poe and Finn have the decency to wait until she’s out of ear shot before they start laughing openly at him and the perplexed look he has on his face.  
  
“It’s a long story bro. Sorry about that, let’s go get a beer and catch up?” Poe says after he and Finn collect themselves and head off towards the back deck themselves.  
  
It takes Ben a few seconds for his brain to catch up to what the hell just happened, but when it does he finds himself trotting after the two men, because he sure as shit is going to need another beer after all of that.  
  


* * *

  
Two Yuengling’s later, Ben finds himself more irritated than he has been in a long time, which is a feat in and of itself considering he’s in medical school and a former Marine.  
  
This girl, Rey, is the single most infuriating person he’s ever met. Every single comment he’s made in the last hour or so, she’s had a remark ready for. It’s like she’s just begging for a fight with anyone, and he just so happens to be the one available at the time.  
  
Ben just tries not to think about how his dick twitches in mild interest inside his jeans when he sees the way her eyes light up while they heatedly debate fucking potato chip brands of all things.  
  
This girl might be the actual death of him; figuratively and literally.  
  
Frustrated as all hell, Ben takes his leave from the deck table they all currently occupy and heads back into Poe’s apartment. He needs some major breathing room, Rey’s got his brain all fucked up and knowing him it’s going to end in one of two ways; him doing something stupid and getting slapped or him doing something stupid and getting fucked.   
  
He's not even three steps down the short hallway before he hears what can only be her footsteps behind him. No one else would dare follow him when he has murder in his eyes; he’s had too many close calls with neighbors over the years that in general people give him a wide berth when they can see he’s in a sour mood.  
  
Rey Niima seems to be the exception to the rules.  
  
“What do you want?” he half shouts, half whines in sheer frustration as he turns on her. He runs a hair through his hair and his breathing is coming short and quick out of his nose, desperately trying to maintain an ounce of his dignity.  
  
Instead of looking cowed, Rey just looks even more emboldened. She steps directly into his personal space, her jaw set and eyes wide with determination, pupils unmistakably dilated with desire. All Ben can think about is how his self-control is literally moments from snapping and how _pissed_ Poe will be if he finds out Ben fucked someone in his bathroom.    
  
She doesn’t say anything, just tilts her chin up at him and raises an eyebrow as if to challenge him.  
  
And his resolves crumbles.  
  
“Oh fuck it,” he breathes out as he closes the small amount of space that is currently in between them in this narrow hallway. His hands work their way to the back of her skull, fingers tangle within the warm brown curls there as he slants his mouth down over hers for the first time.  
  
Ben doesn’t know what he was expecting really. Something more heated than the press of his lips to hers for sure, but Rey seems to be so shocked by his actions at first that Ben is certain he has completely misread this entire situation. _Shit._  
  
And then she just _surges_ up at him, hands scrambling for purchase as she tries to get closer, even if they are already indecently pressed against each other in his best friends’ hallway. Ben nips at her lower lip, which causes her to let out a low whine and he takes that to his advantage and slips his tongue into the wet heat of her mouth.  
  
Her mouth is sweeter than it should be; the lingering taste of something cinnamon mixed with the single beer he had watched her drink earlier.  
  
Ben keeps one hand tangled up in her hair while the other scrambles around behind him in search for a doorknob of any kind. He _really doesn’t_ want to fuck Rey in Poe’s bed; because that’s not what this is. This isn’t the start of some epic romance, it’s just two people who have spent the night riling each other up and mutually agreeing to use each other to release some of the excessive energy they both currently have. That’s all.  
  
His lips trace the line of her jaw as he fumbles for what he hopes is the bathroom doorknob and as soon as he has his face buried properly into the spot where her neck meets her shoulder, his fingers grasp the cool metal doorknob which he successfully manages to twist open with a minimal attention span.  
  
“Is this okay?” he asks into Rey’s neck as she twists her fingers through his hair. Her frantic nod and the low whine in the back of her throat is all the confirmation Ben really needs, and with that he bends down to wrap his arm underneath the curve of her ass and hauls her up against his chest and into the bathroom, kicking the door shut behind him and only pausing long enough to click the lock in place.  
  
Rey has her hands pushing up his shirt before he even has a chance to think, her lithe body pressing firmly against his as she runs her blunt nails across his abdominal muscles and Ben finds himself scrambling out of his shirt after mere seconds of skin to skin contact.  
  
“I kinda hate you,” she mumbles against his lips when he firmly grabs her hips and settles her onto the vanity, her knees parting just enough for his hips to rest between them.  
  
Ben snorts, a very undignified sound for someone who is about to fuck a near stranger in a mutual friend’s bathroom, and presses a quick kiss to her swollen lips, “Yeah, well you’re not exactly my cup of tea either, princess.”  
  
The brunette pulls back from him just enough to look him directly in the eye.  
  
“This is _not_ becoming a thing Solo.”  
  
Ben gives her a wry grin, because as fate would have it he was thinking the same thing. The last thing he needed was to get involved with someone, medical school was fucking exhausting and he hardly has the time or energy to take care of himself, let alone be in a relationship. Even having a friends with benefits type thing was more effort than Ben was willing to put into anyone these days, so whatever this attraction to Rey was, Ben was going to have to solve it here and now in Poe’s bathroom.  
  
“That won’t be a problem Niima.”  
  
With some careful maneuvering, Rey slips her simple cotton panties off below her denim skirt, and Ben catches a lucky break when he finds condoms in the medicine cabinet. _Safety first_ he muses as he pulls one of the square packages out of the box and thanks his guardian angel for having his back on this one. Or Poe; you know, same difference.  
  
Rey is mouthing at his neck as he rips open the plastic with his teeth and damn do her lips feel good against his pulse point. He slides his free hand up her parted thighs and presses his palm against her wetness as she grinds herself against him there. Momentarily Ben forgets all about the condom he’s holding when Rey sinks her teeth into flesh of his right pectoral, and he can _feel_ her smirk against his skin when he lets out a groan at the feel of her tongue soothing the red mark her teeth have left there.   
  
The condom is on his dick before she can attempt to mark him again, and Rey pushes her skirt up and around her waist while Ben pulls her CMU shirt off and presses wet, open mouth kisses against the lace of her bralette. Rey grabs his chin and brings his mouth back up to hers as Ben positions himself at her entrance and rubs the head of his cock against her wetness before pushing himself fully inside of her with one single stroke.  
  
Rey bites his lip, hard enough to draw a little blood, and Ben gives her a few moments to adjust to the size of him before he withdraws and slams himself back into the wet hot heat of her.  
  
“Fuck,” Rey whines in a low voice as Ben pulls out slow enough that even he feels tortured.  
  
“Faster?” he questions and as soon as Rey moans out her agreement, Ben is off to the races.  
  
Bathroom sex is not supposed to be a marathon, but instead a sprint that they both will get to win. With a slight adjustment, Ben slides a hand between the two of them and Rey actually jolts when his thumb comes in contact with her clit. At this point they have given up on kissing, Rey has a hand slapped over her mouth and Ben has taken to resting his forehead against the hollow of her throat, content to watch her breasts bounce against the soft fabric of the lace bralette they never managed to get off of her.  
  
A few more swipes of his thumb against the slickness between her legs and Ben can feel Rey’s inner walls clenching hard enough against his dick that he’s all but certain she is coming, and with a few more sloppy thrusts of his own, he is too. Even with the condom, coming inside a gorgeous girl is a sort of bliss that Ben feels most men take for granted, so he savors the moment by trailing lazy, wet kisses across Rey’s collarbone and throat until he reaches her mouth and can plunge his tongue in once more, committing the taste of her to memory.   


* * *

  
They are both out of breath as they find their respective items of clothing and pull themselves together enough to make a reappearance to Poe’s party. No one really seemed to notice their short disappearance, and if they did, it isn’t brought up to either of them as the mingle in with the crowd again.  
  
Honestly, Ben would ideally be back in his apartment at this time of night, but there’s just something about Rey that makes him hold back for a few extra minutes until he manages to catch her eye again and signals for her to follow him towards the front door.   
  
“What?” she stage-whispers as Ben leans against the front door frame, arms crossed against his broad chest.  
  
“One-time thing?” Ben inquires with a single raised eyebrow and he’s a little taken a back by the blush that is creeping up Rey’s cheeks.  
  
“Yeah, one-time thing. Now go before people start asking questions,” she says with a pointed look that causes Ben to roll his eyes at her.  
  
“See ya Niima,” he says with a jaunty salute as she closes the door on his face.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/squire_pod/) and [tumblr](https://bex-xo.tumblr.com/) if you want to fan girl about a variety of things!


	2. two.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was humid, as July in Pittsburgh typically is, and they had been sitting outside at PNC Park watching a baseball game in the middle of the day. Her tiny denim shorts and loose black tank top was the stuff his boyhood wet dreams were made of if he was to be perfectly honest, not that he would admit that to anyone thank you very much. And to top it off she had stolen an old ballcap of his way back in May when he and Poe took her and Finn to their first Pirates game ever; had taken to wearing it every single goddamn time they were out and about in the city this summer because she knew it did things for him.
> 
> “Like what you see Solo?” Rey drawls from her place on his couch, her eyes landing on the noticeable bulge in the front of his grey basketball shorts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said next Wednesday, but this fic has been laying in wait on my laptop for months- so here we are. Thank you all so much for the kudos and comments, I'm pleased that some of you out there seem to be enjoying this so far!
> 
> Once again my undying gratitude goes to [weddersins](https://twitter.com/weddersins/) for beta reading this for me. You're the best Sarah! 
> 
> If you read this in the RCA pdf, there has been a couple slight modifications since that was published. Mostly me deciding I didn't like some sentence structures and editing them to fit my personal likes. Also- I added an extra scene to the end of this chapter. Upon rereading it as a whole piece, I came to realize that something felt like it was missing in this chapter and I wanted to better connect upcoming plot points. So enjoy that!

“God, will you just shut the fuck up Solo?” Rey sneers up at him from where he has her pinned against the wall outside his apartment.  
  
“Impatient much?” Ben says with a full on grin as he digs his keys out of the pocket of his gym shorts. Rey jabs him in the ribs with a finger, but he only grinds his hips further into hers in retaliation, causing the younger girl to let out a frustrated moan as she squirms against him.  
  
“No one adds much to the end of a sentence anymore, old man.”   
  
“Jesus Christ, you’re hangry Niima. You should have just let me buy you dinner,” Ben remarks as he opens the door to his apartment and Rey slides out from under him and waltzes her way in like she owns the place.  
  
“And I said I would eat later. You bought my ticket to the game, I can’t let you buy me dinner too Solo, it would feel too much like a date and that’s _not_ what this is.”  
  
Rey was right about that, whatever this was between them was _not_ _dating_. Ben didn’t even think it could classify as friends with benefits because they were hardly even friends to begin with. Acquaintances that fucked after auguring about something was probably the best way to describe it, and even that was being generous most of the time.  
  
“I didn’t even buy your ticket, I won it from the radio. And Poe was supposed to go with me anyway, you just got lucky that Finn surprised him with a trip to Cedar Point today,” Ben argues as he shuts the door and slides the deadbolt in place.  
  
Unsurprisingly when he turns around Rey is spread out across his couch, a come-hither expression on her face as she stretches her tanned arms up and over her head. Ben pulls his Pirates Baseball shirt off as he stalks his way across his apartment to where the single most infuriating person he knows lays in wait, a satisfied grin that spreads like butter across her face the closer he gets to her.  
  
Okay, so Ben knows they agreed that this was gonna be a one-time thing when they met at Poe’s party in March, but somehow over the past few months they have managed to fall into some pattern of fighting and then fucking and really Ben can’t quite be sure how they got here. Because while Rey might drive him _absolutely insane_ most days, this whole not-relationship with her has been easier than any actual girlfriend he’s ever had before.  
  
There are some agreed upon conditions with this whole arrangement though. First and foremost being that this isn’t a bedroom sort of deal, because bedrooms lead to post orgasm cuddling and a whole nother layer of intimacy they don’t want to share with each other. The other, which is just as crucial but also a real test to both of their willpower, is no oral sex. Giving or receiving. Which really fucking sucks sometimes- not that Ben is dying to get his dick sucked or anything, but more because he likes to think he has perfected the art of pussy eating in his years of sexual activity. And despite already knowing what she tastes like - sweet and tangy with a hint of something fruity- there's nothing quite like experiencing it straight from the source, which won't happen anytime soon. He's resigned himself to savoring that taste of her on his fingers for all of eternity, or until she decides that it's time to get an actual boyfriend, the later the more likely of the two.  
   
“Did you say you won the tickets from the radio? Who even listens to the radio these days?” Rey mocks as he plants himself at the foot of the couch to let his eyes roam over the exposed skin she has on display today.  
  
It was humid, as July in Pittsburgh typically is, and they had been sitting outside at PNC Park watching a baseball game in the middle of the day. Her tiny denim shorts and loose black tank top was the stuff his boyhood wet dreams were made of if he was to be perfectly honest, not that he would admit that to anyone thank you very much. And to top it off she had stolen an old ballcap of his way back in May when he and Poe took her and Finn to their first Pirates game ever; had taken  to wearing it every single goddamn time they were out and about in the city this summer because she _knew_ it did things for him.  
  
“Like what you see Solo?” Rey drawls from her place on his couch, her eyes landing on the noticeable bulge in the front of his grey basketball shorts.  
  
Of course, he does, probably a little more than what is acceptable, and he knows that _she knows_ this fact. Ben might not be great at communicating actual feelings, but he’s knows he’s made it perfectly clear that he is undoubtably physically attracted to Rey.  
  
Slowly Ben sinks down to hover over where Rey is spread out on the couch, his lips connecting with the hallow of her throat. This is something they have done dozens of times over the past few months, learning each other’s bodies over the course of time, where exactly to touch to get from zero to sixty in a matter of minutes. Rey’s fingers find their way to Ben’s hair and he’s not gonna deny that he loves it when she wraps the strands around her fingers and tugs.  
  
“I’d like it a bit better if you were wearing nothing at all,” he groans out into her skin with a thrust of his hips into hers.  
  
With a sly smile Rey pushes at his chest until he’s moved off of her and is sitting upright at the end of his black leather couch. In an effortless motion she’s peeling her tank off to reveal  a delicate piece of black lace that Ben thinks hardly counts as a bra, only for her to pull that item off unceremoniously as well. Next come the denim shorts and what he thinks is a black lace thong, but she’s out of it so quickly that he's not entirely certain.  
  
“Better?” she asks with a cheeky grin as she comes and stands directly in front of him.  
  
If his dick wasn’t already fully at attention, it would be now that she’s tugging at the basketball shorts he's still wearing. Ben pulls a condom out of side table drawer he’s taken to keeping stocked recently out of necessity and her tiny fingers expertly roll it over the length of him before she settles herself over his thighs.   
  
“Perfect,” Ben groans as Rey sinks down fully on him and his hands settle on her waist and span all the way down to her hips.  
  
Her hands are pressed into his chest as she sets her own leisurely pace to start. She takes a minute, maybe two, to draw out their mutual pleasure before she starts fucking him in earnest. Ben will _never_ not enjoy the sight of his dick disappearing into her cunt, not that he would tell her that - it's _too much_ for whatever this is. Rey is a wild mess above him, her neck stretched to her shoulders and her tits arched up into Ben’s face; with a slight adjustment in posture he’s able to latch his lips around one dusty nipple and the moan Rey releases shakes through both their bodies.  
  
“ _Fuck_ you’re good at that,” Rey pants out as Ben tugs her nipple between his teeth.  
  
“Yeah? How good?” he responds with light chuckle as he moves his lips to her other tit, leaves a path of sloppy wet kisses in the space between her breasts.  
  
Rey replies with roll of her hips that nearly has him coming right then and there.  
  
“Fucking hell Niima,” Ben mumbles into her flesh when she repeats the gesture.  
  
Ben knows he’s close to loosing it, and it’s second nature to slide his fingers between them to help her get there too at this point. A handful of frantic rubs at her clit has Rey cresting at her peak and Ben taking over all the rest of the hard work as she practically melts into his lap.  
  
It takes Ben three solid thrusts to fall over the edge with her, and then they are tangled up together in a heap on his couch as they both come down from their highs. It should feel too intimate, but Ben secretly enjoys the few minutes of their post coital haze that they usually spend wrapped up in each other. Absentmindedly he pulls her face close and gives her a lazy kiss that’s more tongue than anything, tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear as he pulls his rapidly softening dick out of her and trots off to his bathroom to dispose of the used condom.

* * *

  
By the time he comes back Rey excuses herself to freshen up and he makes his way over to his kitchen, pulls out a variety of ingredients and sets himself to making them dinner. Rey might balk at letting him buy her dinner, but not even she will be able to turn down his Nana Padme’s Shepard’s pie.  
  
Rey lets of out an overly dramatic sigh at the sight of him in his kitchen, “Solo, what are you doing?”  
  
“Cooking dinner,” is his only reply, refusing to further elaborate on the topic while he sets to cutting potatoes needed for the mash he has to make.  
  
“Ben.”  
  
That catches his attention. They hardly ever use each other’s first names, Ben isn’t even sure he’s ever actually said her name out loud before. He looks up from where he’s dicing carrots and he’s not expecting to see the sentimental gaze Rey is throwing his way. If he didn't know any better, he would swear there was something akin to love in her eyes.   
  
“Rey?” he questions before she seems to shake herself out of it. Rey throws him one of her sunshine-bright-smiles and pulls up one of the barstools.  
  
“How can I help?” she says with a slight waver in her voice, something Ben wants to question further but decides against because this is getting dangerously close to emotions and they don’t do that. Even if he's starting to think maybe they should.  
  
Wordlessly he pushes over a pile of vegetables that need diced along with a cutting board and knife, and Rey gets to work.

* * *

 "Oh my god, I haven't had a home cooked meal in years. That was incredible, where did you learn to do that?" Rey asks a few hours later with a satisfied pat to her belly.   
  
He has the decency to blush as he packs a container of leftovers to send with her tonight when she goes back to that little shoebox apartment she's renting for the summer. Most students go back home for their summer vacations, and while Rey isn't the only student he's known that opted to stay in the city, she's by far the youngest. Whoever was back in Arizona doesn't seem overly concerned with her decision, so Ben does his best to have the same attitude, no matter how much that voice in his head begs him to question her about it.   
  
"My mom taught me, when I was a kid. It's one of the meals she remembers her biological mom making before she passed away," he answers with a with a shrug.   
  
Rey gives him a small, almost apologetic, smile before she rises from her chair with stretch of her arms over her head. A strip of tanned skin is exposed and at the sight Ben's dick gives a half-hearted twitch in his shorts, but she's grabbing her bag and has her phone pulled out of her back pocket, Lyft app already open.   
  
"I can take you back," he says with a nod at her phone, but she triumphantly holds the screen up to show him her ride will be there in three minutes.   
  
"I'm good. And no, you're not Venmoing me any money for my fair, so don't suggest it. My tips have been great this past week, I can afford a Lyft all on my own," she says with an air of authority that has him backing off with raised hands before he even had a chance to pick his own phone up.   
  
Rey silently takes the Tupperware container of Shepard's pie that he hands her when her phone chimes that her Lyft is there and it's all he can do to resist the stupid urge to walk her down to the front of his building. Instead he just holds open his front door for her as she slides her black flip flops back on.   
  
"Thank you Ben," Rey tells him with a measure of sincerity he's only heard her talk to Finn with, and before he has a chance to reply she's up on her toes pressing a kiss to his jaw before sliding out of the door.   
  
He's not sure how long exactly he stands there in shock, but it's long enough that his phone is chimes with a text from her to let him know she's back at her place and wasn't murdered by her Lyft driver.   
  
This is the moment he knows he's in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/squire_pod/) and [tumblr](https://bex-xo.tumblr.com/) where I like to scream about a lot of things. 
> 
> if you're enjoying this, please let me know!


	3. three.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You never mentioned you grew up in an actual mansion Ben,” Rey intones as they pull into the driveway in front of his parents lakefront property. 
> 
> “My mom is Leia Organa Solo. Biological daughter of former Senator Padme Amidala and General Anakin Skywalker, and adopted daughter of Senator Bail Organa. She’s never not lived in a mansion,” Ben informs the girls as they hop out of the SUV and start grabbing their weekend bags. 
> 
> “Holy shit,” Rose mutters as the door in front of them opens and his mother comes out dressed in the most expensive casual clothes they have probably ever seen in their lives. 
> 
> “Son!” Leia cries as she pulls him in for a hug. Ben towers over his mother, a good foot plus taller than her diminutive stature, but she can still wrap him up in a hell of a hug. 
> 
> “Mom,” he replies as he presses a kiss to her cheek like the good son he is deep down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again all my uwu's to my amazing beta [weddersins](https://twitter.com/weddersins/)! I can never thank you enough for making my incoherent writing make sense! 
> 
> A few minor edits in this chapter as compared to the RCA PDF version. Nothing structurally or story wise, just some word choices that needed changed!

Labor Day weekend might just be the last refuge of peace for all college students in the city of Pittsburgh.  
  
For Ben, it means packing up his SUV and driving two or so hours north to his parent’s house in Erie like normal. Though this year he will be joined by Poe, Finn, Rey and a new friend of theirs named Rose, so while part of him loathes Erie and his parents obnoxious house, at least he won’t be alone in it.  
  
“I’ve never seen one of the Great Lakes before!” Rey chatters excitedly from his passenger side seat to Rose who sits in the back. Poe and Finn have formed a caravan with them in Poe’s truck, following Ben up I-79 on this Friday afternoon.  
  
“You’ve seen the literal ocean Rey, I promise the lake isn’t that impressive,” Ben reminds her from behind his Ray-Bans as the girl next to him pouts.  
  
“Don’t listen to him Rey. It may not be the ocean, but it’s pretty cool to think that it’s a body of water you can’t see across in the continent,” Rose reassures her from her spot in the back before she sticks her tongue out at Ben in the rear-view  mirror.  
  
The next hour goes by in relative silence, until they they pass the Millcreek Mall complex, which causes the girls to break into exited chatter about shopping of all things. Once they hit the city limits, the drive to the bay area where Ben's parents' live is very short. Niagara Point is mostly made up of ostentatious houses for the very few financially affluent people located in the city, but mostly Ben is grateful he still remembers his rarely used security code to get in the gated drive.  
  
“You never mentioned you grew up in an actual mansion Ben,” Rey intones as they pull into the driveway in front of his parents lakefront property.  
  
“My mom is Leia Organa Solo. Biological daughter of former Senator Padme Amidala and General Anakin Skywalker, and adopted daughter of Senator Bail Organa. She’s never _not_ lived in a mansion,” Ben informs the girls as they hop out of the SUV and start grabbing their weekend bags.  
  
“Holy shit,” Rose mutters as the door in front of them opens and his mother comes out dressed in the most expensive casual clothes they have probably ever seen in their lives.  
  
“Son!” Leia cries as she pulls him in for a hug. Ben towers over his mother, a good foot plus taller than her diminutive stature, but she can still wrap him up in a hell of a hug.  
  
“Mom,” he replies as he presses a kiss to her cheek like the good son he is deep down.  
   
Poe and Finn are pulling in behind them as Leia greets the girls and Poe is out of the driver’s seat in a flash to pull the older woman up into a bear hug. Poe is just about the only friend of Ben’s that ever took to his mother straight away; most were intimidated by the powerful lady but Poe followed her around like a lost puppy.  
  
“Let me show you guys to your rooms,” Leia insists after they all get their things out of the respective vehicles they travelled in.

 

* * *

  
  
Ben follows the group up the winding staircase and veers off down the opposite direction; away from where Leia was leading the others. As a teenager he moved bedrooms to one further down the hall from where his parents bedroom lay, and for good reason. Leia and Han had never been good at the art of subtlety; whether it was fucking or fighting, teenage Ben didn’t want to hear either and had the sense to move as far away from his parents room as humanly possible.  
  
The room is much the same as he left it when he headed off to bootcamp; poster's taped to the wall and Mercyhurst Prep awards in frames. His mother had changed out the sheets and comforter years ago from the black monstrosity he had insisted on sleeping with to something navy blue, but other than that things were mostly left untouched. It was a tomb of his high school self and a testament to why teenage Ben was mostly a loner.   
  
He flops back across the king sized bed of his youth and closes his eyes briefly before he hears a short knock on the door frame. He doesn’t even have to look up to know it’s going to be Rey standing there, so he just lifts his arm for her to come snuggle under and she’s curled up against him in a flash.   
  
They are still decidedly not a couple, despite the recent familiarity they have come into during their private moments. Ben still hasn’t taken her to bed so to say, and neither one of them have broached the topic of oral sex despite the comfort they have found in each other. They actually manage to have conversations now that don’t lead to them screaming at one another, though they still always seem to end up hooking up regardless of that. It's comfortable in a way that it entirely shouldn't be.  
  
“Your mom is nice,” her muffled voice comes from where she’s buried her nose into his chest.  
  
Ben grins. “Yeah she’s alright. So is the old man I guess. I’m not sure if you’ll get to meet him, summer is a busy season for his shipping company, but mom said he might be around on Monday for her party.”  
  
Rey traces a pattern in the fabric of his t-shirt as he rubs his hand soothingly over her shoulder while they lapse back into silence; simply content to enjoy each others presence for the moment. It’s times like this Ben questions why they aren’t an actual couple, but he supposes if Rey would like to change the status of their relationship, she would have brought it up already.  
  
Poe, bless him, bursts into the room moments later and kindly adverts his eyes as he and Rey detangle from one another. Ben knows Poe will probably want to discuss the matter later, but he’s thankful his friend seems to brush this moment to the side when he excitedly announces that Leia said they were heading to Sara’s for dinner.  
  
“Who is Sara?” Rey asks as the trio makes their way down the hall to meet with their friends and Leia.  
  
Poe lets out a startled laugh before he sobers up and looks at Rey with all the seriousness he can muster, “My dear child, Sara’s is not a who. Sara’s is a where. It’s a place that all Erie natives and summer season visitors must experience in its full glory.”  
  
Ben rolls his eyes, “It’s a local drive-in-diner joint that serves hot dogs, burgers and curly fries. It’s weirdly a big deal in these parts.”  
  
“Don’t forget the onion rings!” Poe adds excitedly.  
  
“And the orange-vanilla twist cone,” Leia chimes in when they meet outside the master bedroom. “We’re all accounted for? Okay good, off we go children.”  
  
“Excuse me ma’am,” Poe starts, “but I’m 30. I haven’t been a child in years.”  
  
Leia gives him a once over before tossing her purse over her shoulder.  
  
“I said what I said Dameron,”  she states before she pushes her way past a speechless Poe.

 

* * *

  
  
Rey, Rose and Finn are so enraptured by Poe’s explanation of tradition and Erie culture that the four of them are positively bouncing with excitement as they make their way into the diner. Ben lets out a long-suffering sigh and rolls his eyes for the umpteenth time behind his sunglasses as his mother just eggs the group on. Sara’s is a absurdly big deal in these parts, and while the food is good, Ben has never been able to catch the hype. And he’s the one that grew up here.  
  
Rey pokes him gently in the ribs. “Grouchy man,” she mumbles as she presses herself closer to him in the crowded waiting area.  
  
Ben discreetly rubs the nape of Rey’s neck affectionately before he gives her a genuine smile. She flashes one back just as quickly before stepping up in front of him as she starts to chat away with Rose.  
  
“What is this about?” Poe asks from beside him as their friends stand in front of them.  
  
Ben sighs and pushes his sunglasses up and into his hair before turning to look at the older man, “It’s nothing man.”  
  
“It didn’t look like nothing Ben. Rey’s a good girl, I’m very fond of her. Just be careful okay?” the shorter man says with a knowing smile and an elbow bump before he wraps an arm around his boyfriend.  
  
What Ben doesn’t have a chance to say is that he is also very fond of Rey and he’s being as careful as he can be.

 

* * *

  
  
Saturday finds them spread out on beach towels at a very crowded spot at the peninsula. Ben swore up and down no one was going to enjoy swimming in Lake Erie but wasn’t remotely surprised when the group decided to give it a go anyway.  
  
That was nearly an hour ago, Rey and Rose gave up after a few minutes in favor for catching the remaining rays of the seasons sun, but Poe and Finn continue to horse around in the water a few feet away. Ben wouldn't willingly step a foot in that water even if someone paid him, so he's managed to keep himself far away.  
  
Instead he has his nose buried in a book, as per usual, while the two girls were gabbing away about the Union Grill, the little café in downtown Pittsburgh they both started working at this summer and the place they met. Ben was almost able to block out the shrieking of nearby children but found himself reading the same page of his novel repeatedly due to being wildly distracted by the sight of Rey in her red bikini.  
  
With a frustrated groan, Ben flings his book down beside him, which causes the girls to look up from where they have huddled their heads together to gossip.  
  
“What is it Ben?” Rey asks cautiously as she lifts her sunglasses to the top of her head.  
  
“I don’t like sand. It’s course and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere,” he says in way of explanation, which is not entirely untrue either. It's just not the exact reason for his current annoyance.  
  
Rose just shakes her head at his declaration and gets up off her towel to trot back towards where Poe and Finn continue to play in the waves. Once she’s sufficiently distracted, Rey crawls up next him and rests her chin on his shoulder.  
  
“What’s the real problem?”  
  
Ben works his jaw as he contemplates what exactly to say. How do you tell your fuck buddy that you’re constantly wondering why you haven’t made your relationship something more solid? How do you tell someone that you're not supposed to have feelings for that you've spent the last two months fighting the urge to wax poetic about your feelings for them every single time you've been inside them?  
  
So he settles for, “I can’t keep my eyes off you and everyone is going to notice,” instead.  
  
The giggle that escapes Rey’s lips is not entirely unexpected.  
  
“Yeah, me too.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Sara's](http://sarasandsallys.com/) is a real actual place here in Erie that the locals (myself included) are obsessed with and it definitely comes highly recommended from the author if you ever find yourself in the Erie area during their open season. 
> 
> [Lake Erie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Erie)
> 
> [Mercyhurst Prep](https://www.mpslakers.com/)
> 
> [Millcreek Mall Complex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millcreek_Mall) is actually incredibly large considering that Erie is not all that big. Also the thing that wikipedia doesn't mention is that the original funding for the property was backed by a mob family and the main building is shaped like a gun. True story!
> 
>  
> 
> you can find me both on [twitter](https://twitter.com/squire_pod/) and [tumblr](https://bex-xo.tumblr.com/) if you want to scream about a variety of fangirl things!
> 
> let me know if you liked it!


	4. four.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erie, in Ben’s oh so humble opinion, is rather on the boring side, but somehow Finn, Rose and Rey join forces to beg Poe and Ben into spending the day at Waldameer and Water World, a local amusement and water park that Ben hasn’t been to in years, for good reason. It’s on the small side, but it’s nice enough for an afternoon with nothing to do. So they pack up and head back over to the peninsula entrance and join the crowd of locals and Labor Day vacationers who are making the most out the last few days of summer sun. 
> 
> “This is basically Erie’s Kennywood,” Rose muses as they make their way to the back of the park where the water park is located. 
> 
> “Except smaller and less expensive,” Ben agrees as he is suddenly assaulted with the strong sent of chlorine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short little thing today, but I promise the next one is longer and smuttier ;)
> 
> Thanks so much for the comments and kudos! I honestly appreciate them all! 
> 
> Once again I need to send all my love to [weddersins](https://twitter.com/weddersins/) for being an amazing beta and helping me make sense of my writing. LOVE YOU GIRL.

Saturday evening comes and goes with little fanfare. Leia is not the cooking type, but she is excellent at ordering out, so the spread from Teresa’s Deli that is laid out across the kitchen island when their group finally drag's themselves back in from the lake is much appreciated. They spend the next few hours being regaled with the many stories of Leia’s childhood, from the untimely death of her biological mother and her and Luke’s subsequent adoption by the Organa’s, to how she met Han and how much they hated each other at first sight.  
  
“Oh, but it was love too kids. Han and I, we loathed each other in an instant, but we were so drawn to each other that it couldn’t be anything but love too. Took us a while to figure that out, but when we got there, we were unstoppable.”  
  
Finn lets out a dreamy sigh, and his eyes never leave Poe when he asks Leia what it’s like to be a part of a fairytale.  
  
Ben can’t quite hold back his snort and his mother just shoots him _a look_ that he has learned means “be quiet” over the years.  
  
“We fight dear. We might love each other fiercely, but Han and I can have a fight like none other. It’s all about balance my dear,” Leia says, and Ben can’t help but notice how pointedly she looks at him.

 

* * *

  
  
Sunday morning is more of the same, Poe whips them all up some breakfast and Leia nurses a black coffee as she starts in on stories of Ben’s teenage years. He might actually die of embarrassment right then and there, and there’s nothing he can do about it.   
  
Erie, in Ben’s oh so humble opinion, is rather on the boring side, but somehow Finn, Rose and Rey join forces to beg Poe and Ben into spending the day at Waldameer and Water World, a local amusement and water park that Ben hasn’t been to in years, for good reason. It’s on the small side, but it’s nice enough for an afternoon with nothing to do. So they pack up and head back over to the peninsula entrance and join the crowd of locals and Labor Day vacationers who are making the most out the last few days of summer sun.    
  
“This is basically Erie’s Kennywood,” Rose muses as they make their way to the back of the park where the water park is located.  
  
“Except smaller and less expensive,” Ben agrees as he is suddenly assaulted with the strong sent of chlorine.  
  
They quickly shed their outerwear and stash everything in the lockers they have rented for the morning. Rey is wearing a more conservative black bikini today, but Ben can’t help but take an appreciative look at her ass as they are walking towards the pile of float rings that are required on many of the slides in the park.  
  
“Ben, double with me?” the girl in question asks as she reaches for a double float. Ben nods his head in silent agreement and pulls the float out of her hands as they head up the wooden walkway towards the slides with their friends.   
  
The lines are long, but thankfully the teens and young adults that work here have had all summer to practice moving visitors through the queue with efficiency, so they don’t end up waiting all that long for their first slide. The teenager helping them reminds them that the larger rider needs to be in the back and the next thing Ben knows he and Rey are zooming down a pitch black slide and she is shrieking with delight.  
  
It's a sound Ben thinks he'll never get tired of hearing.  
  
They continue their way through the water park, even spend some time hanging out in the new wave pool and the hot tub before Rey suggests one last go on the lazy river before they head out to the amusement park. The five of them attempt to stay attached to each other’s rafts, but Poe ends up laughing so hard at something Rose says that he ends up flipping both him and Finn into the current, which causes Rose to let go of her hold on Ben’s float. Ben and Rey start to float further down the river without their friends, as the trio they left behind struggles to right there way back into their floats.  
  
“Oh my god this is a disaster,” Rey says between giggles as she watches their friends flail about in the water yards away from them.  
  
Ben chuckles. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less from those three,” he says with a tone of amusement.

 

* * *

  
  
Eventually they all manage to drag themselves out of the water and head to their separate changing rooms before meeting at the water park exit and heading into the park. Poe and Finn want to hit all the rollercoaster's, and while there are not that many, Ben isn’t quite the adrenaline junkie they are and opts to head to some of the other rides, Rey trailing along with him as Rose decides she’s ready to hit the coasters too.  
  
With how close they are walking next to each other it would be so easy for Ben to just reach out and take her hand, to pretend for the next few hours that they really are something more than just friends with benefits. Instead, he shoves his hands deep into the pockets of his cargo shorts as he and Rey head to the Whacky Shack, a little darkened ride in cars with various small jump scares throughout. Ben places a hand across to expanse of the small of Rey's back as he leads her into the cart of their ride.  
  
“It smells musty in here,” Rey tells him as they push through the first set of double doors.  
  
“It smells like my childhood,” Ben replies as the cart swerves them around the track and through the neon painted black light rooms.  
  
They go about their day like this, enjoying the easy rides and occasionally bumping into their friends in the crowd. It’s not overly thrilling, but Rey seems to genuinely be enjoying herself, which in turns makes Ben enjoy himself. When its near the time they agreed upon with their friends to meet up so they could head back to the Solo home, Rey drags Ben into the line for the giant ferris wheel, and they set off to the grand look at the whole of the peninsula.  
  
“It’s gorgeous here,” Rey sighs dreamily as she stares out of their gondola.  
  
“It really is,” Ben says sentimentally, even though his eyes are glued to her and her only.  
  
Rey settles back into her seat next to him, and Ben lifts an arm to drape around her shoulders. He presses a kiss into the crown of her hair without even thinking about it until Rey stiffens underneath his touch. Pulling away, Ben tries to read her face but finds that she’s managing to keep it oddly blank.  
  
“Sorry,” he mumbles embarrassingly as he runs a hand through his hair.  
  
Rey looks startled and reaches for Ben’s hand. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m fine. I just- we’ve gotten really comfortable with the PDA here Ben,” she tells him, and he finds himself nodding in agreement. "I don't want to give you the wrong idea."  
  
“Yeah, yeah you’re right. We should uh, probably not do that huh? Since we’re not, you know, actually together or anything.”  
  
Rey’s face remains surprisingly neutral as she bobs her head up and down and scoots herself down the seat just enough to put some space in between them.  
  
Ben doesn’t want to think about how much it _hurts_ to watch her do that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Waldameer Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldameer_Park) is my local SMALL amusement park that I honestly haven't been to in years.
> 
> [Kennywood Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennywood) is an amusement park in Pittsburgh. On the small side in comparison to say, Cedar Point or Six Flags, but it has a variety of rides and it has the only rollercoasters I will willingly get on. 
> 
> Teresa's Deli is also a real place here in Erie, known for sub sandwiches and giant salads. They actually catered my bridal shower, so I'm a fan. 
> 
> You can find me here on [twitter](https://twitter.com/squire_pod/) and here on [tumblr](https://bex-xo.tumblr.com/) if you want to scream about a variety of fandom things! 
> 
> If you liked it, let me know! Thanks for reading!


	5. five.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Benny boy might be some big shot doctor here in a few years, but it was hard to take him seriously as an gangly eighteen-year-old who was all ears with his high and tight," Poe tells the group as the night wears on. Ben flushes with embarrassment at the mention of his ears, despite knowing that Rey has certainly noticed one of the several photos his mother keeps around the house. 
> 
> "What was it they called you?" Poe, the traitor, asks him innocently. 
> 
> Ben rolls his eyes. "Ears #2, you asshole."
> 
> Finn snorts a laugh and Rose tries her hardest not to laugh, but fails miserably. Rey just gives him a soft, genuine smile, and for that Ben is grateful, because maybe everything will be okay between them after all. 
> 
> "So, if you were Ears #2, that meant there was an Ears #1?" Rose tentatively asks after regaining her breath. 
> 
> "Yeah, cheers that poor bastard," Ben replies with a raise of the Yuengling he's been nursing. 
> 
> The cry of cheers that rings out from the deck can probably be heard all the way in Ontario, but it makes Ben break into a smile regardless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the hits and kudos and comments! I so appreciate it! 
> 
> shout out to the best beta of all time [weddersins](https://twitter.com/weddersins/) for making the things I write in this fandom readable! 
> 
> If you've read the PDF version of this fic, there are a few slight alterations. Once again, just me nitpicking my own writing, nothing has changed structurally to the fic plot wise!

Dinner is rowdy. Leia has ordered out again, this time it’s carry out from Odis 12, which means wings and pizza and beer. She has started a fire in the pit on their deck that overlooks the bay, and with the sun already set the breeze off the lake has caused them all to find throw blankets or hoodies despite the fires heat.  
  
Finn and Poe are cuddled up on one of the wicker love seats, and Leia is drinking her wine from the comfort of her favorite chair. Rose and Rey have claimed the swing chair and Ben has been relegated to the couch, which is fine by him because it gives him a chance to spread his legs out. Being cramped in theme park rides and too small inner tubes all day was unnaturally exhausting.   
  
The conversation this easy, Ben doesn’t think he has laughed so much in a long time. Poe starts telling stories from their time in the Marines, and their friends all listen with rapt attention. Ben throws his two cents in there every so often, correcting a detail or providing Poe with a year for something, but for the most part he just laughs along with the rest of them as Poe tells them of some of the ridiculous things they did back in the day.  
  
"Benny boy might be some big shot doctor here in a few years, but it was hard to take him seriously as an gangly eighteen-year-old who was all ears with his high and tight," Poe tells the group as the night wears on. Ben flushes with embarrassment at the mention of his ears, despite knowing that Rey has certainly noticed one of the several photos his mother keeps around the house.   
  
"What was it they called you?" Poe, the traitor, asks him innocently.   
  
Ben rolls his eyes. "Ears #2, you _asshole_."  
  
Finn snorts a laugh and Rose tries her hardest not to laugh, but fails miserably. Rey just gives him a soft, genuine smile, and for that Ben is grateful, because maybe everything will be okay between them after all.   
  
"So, if you were Ears #2, that meant there was an Ears #1?" Rose tentatively asks after regaining her breath.   
  
"Yeah, cheers that poor bastard," Ben replies with a raise of the Yuengling he's been nursing.   
  
The cry of cheers that rings out from the deck can probably be heard all the way in Ontario, but it makes Ben break into a smile regardless.   


* * *

  
Leia is the first to call it a night, followed shortly by Rose after she can’t stop the yawns from coming. Nearly an hour later Finns head drops into his chest and he lets out the loudest snore Ben has heard since he shared barracks with 50 some odd dudes, which prompts Poe to wake his boyfriend up and drag him into the house for some sleep. Rey still sits in her spot on the swing, wrapped up in one of his mom’s cashmere blankets and holding a near empty wine glass. The silence isn’t exactly awkward, but it’s lacking the easy feel that has grown between them in recent months.  
  
Rey speaks first.  
  
"I love your ears."  
  
Ben makes a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, eyes steadfastly trained on the dwindling fire in front of him.   
  
“I’m sorry. About earlier. I just, I’m still not used to affection really. I didn’t have much growing up, and it makes me uncomfortable.”  
  
Ben’s head swings over to hers fast enough that he feels his neck actually crack. His eyebrows are in his hairline as he takes her in, because despite being able to have conversations now, her childhood really isn’t something she has shared much about. He knows she was a foster child, but other than that, Rey hasn’t said much on the subject.  
  
“We moved here when I was about four or five. My dad’s company brought us over here, and it was supposed to be permanent. About three months after we got our citizenship, they were killed in what the police said was a drug deal gone bad. I was eight years old,” Rey tells him, and in an instant he’s on his feet and has made his way across the deck, pulling her close to his chest in the swing chair.  
  
“I hopped around the foster system in Arizona. No family in the UK to send me to, no one in the states that wanted me. I got into Carnegie with a full ride and moved to Pennsylvania just thankful to be across the country from my former foster father. And when I feel my accent starting to slip, I’ll binge watch the BBC ,” she tells him with a wet little laugh as he rubs a reassuring hand across her back.  
  
“Jesus Rey, no wonder you were so offended when we first met,” Ben hears himself telling her, because he feels like an asshole now that he thinks about their introduction.  
  
“Well, I was in a mood that day to begin with. It didn’t hurt that I was instantly attracted to you either.”  
  
Ben can feel himself go red from the tips of his ears downward, and he clears his throat before he tilts Rey’s chin up to look in her eyes.  
  
“I was instantly attracted to you too,” he says with a soft smile that she mirrors.  


* * *

  
Who kisses who first isn’t completely clear, but it’s soft and sweet and Ben could just melt into her if it was possible. It’s not heated, not like a majority of the other kisses they have shared, instead it's something that builds with them as Ben cups her jaw to angle her face just how he wants it and Rey turns her body to sit on her knees and wraps her fingers in his hair.  
  
They take their time kissing and exploring each other’s mouths as the blanket falls away from them and Ben’s fingers reach hungrily for the hem of Rey’s hoodie. Reluctantly they pull apart to pull off their top layers, and when their mouths meet again it’s with teeth and tongue and aggression.  
  
Ben drags his mouth down her jaw and into her neck; he sucks and nips at the flesh there as his hands palm at her breasts through her t-shirt, excited to find she’s forgone a bra when he feels her nipples tight under the linen of her shirt.  
  
“Fuck Rey,” Ben moans into her neck when she slides her hands up his shirt to scratch her nails down his back. He’s already near painfully hard and they have way too many clothes on yet, so he leaves the spot on her neck that he favors to pull off her shirt and then his.  
  
“Should we go inside?” Rey asks against his lips after she pulls him back in, his hands running up and down her sides.  
  
“And risk getting caught? No thanks. I have a condom in my back pocket in case you’re wondering,” Ben tells her earnestly as he pulls away from her mouth to look in her eyes.  
  
“Thought you’d get lucky?” she questions with a waggle of her eyebrows that makes him laugh.  
  
“Nah, just wishful thinking,” he replies with a wink before pulling one of her taught nipples between his lips and causing her to moan out loud.  
  
He laves attention on her small but perfect breasts, takes his time treating each one with his mouth until they are red and wet to his liking. Rey is a squirming mess where she perches on his lap, and he hoists her up until she wraps her legs around his waist and he can move them over to the couch. This isn't exactly the sort of swing he'd like to try and fuck her in to be perfectly honest.  
  
Ben lays Rey down against the worn cushions; her hair fans out around her and her pupils are so blown the hazel looks nearly black, and _goddamit_ Ben thinks he might actually be in love with this girl.  
  
Automatically Rey's hands reach down to shimmy out of her shorts, but Ben stops and gives her a meaningful look. She flushes that pretty shade of pink that looks so good on her sun-kissed skin while she pulls her hand away from her waist band. Slowly he drags the denim shorts down her legs; Rey can’t take her eyes off of him and the spot where he’s kneeling between he thighs. With a wicked smile, Ben bends down to press a kiss against her lace covered mound and Rey keens at the contact, her hips thrusting up to make more contact to his mouth.  
  
Ben pulls back just enough to slide the already wet panties off of Rey, leaving her spread wide and bare in front of him for the first time ever. He looks up to make eye contact with Rey, who just nods her consent from where she’s already biting on her knuckles.   
  
"I'm so fucking lucky," he murmurs as he presses a kiss to the outside of her knee.  
  
Ben wants to savor this moment, the first time he gets to taste Rey directly, so he runs his hand up her right leg from ankle to knee before he brings it to rest over his shoulder, and then repeats the motion on her left leg, making himself comfortable enough to completely enjoy what he’s been wanting to do for months now.  
  
Using this fingers, Ben spreads Rey’s outer lips open and has a sharp intake of breath when he see’s just how wet she is. Her cunt is the most perfect he’s ever seen, wet and swollen and pink. He leans in and huffs a hot breath across her flesh and he hasn’t even really touched her yet, but Rey is moaning above him behind the fist she has in front of her mouth.  
  
He swipes up her center broadly, using the flat of his tongue to lap up as much of her wetness as he can, and Rey sobs a cry of relief at the contact. Encouraged, he repeats the action with more force once, then twice, before zeroing in on her clit and giving it unrelenting attention until Rey is practically sobbing above him. She's an absolute soaking mess, and the feel of her wetness on his face only urges his actions on further.  
  
“Please Ben. Please please please. Make me come Ben, I’m almost there,” she whines as she presses her hips up and off the wicker couch she’s laying across.  
  
He adds a finger, then two, to his administrations and wraps his lips around her clit and sucks hard. Ben feels Rey’s walls flutter around his fingers but barely hears her babbling as she crushes his head between her thighs. If he had to choose a way to go, face first in Rey’s cunt would definitely top the list, but as quick as she tightens her thighs around his ears she loosens them up and practically melts into the couch.  
  
Ben wipes the back of his hand across the wetness on his face and pulls himself up to lean across Rey and kiss her. She opens her mouth to him in an instant and she doesn’t at all seemed bothered by the taste of herself on his tongue. In fact, he would go as far as to say she enjoyed it.   
  
There’s some fumbling with his shorts and he’s searching for that condom he had the sense to throw in there, but they manage to adjust themselves across the couch and Ben sinks in with a hiss and a kiss.  
  
“Look at me, please look at me Rey,” he begs as Rey closes her eyes at the feeling. Instantly she opens her eyes back up and wraps her arms tightly around his neck.  
  
It's close and slow and intimate, the pace they set here underneath God, the stars and everything. Ben kisses the slope of Rey’s neck as he takes his time fucking into her, her body pliant and soft beneath his touch. Nothing has ever felt this good, nothing could ever compare to the bliss they are finding together right now.   
  
“God Ben,” Rey whines as Ben hitches her knee up and into his elbow, the angle lets him slip even deeper inside of her and she’s meeting him thrust for thrust in chase of another orgasm.  
  
She slides a single hand down between them to rub at her clit while Ben continues to build a pace for them that will bring them both crashing into paradise.  
  
And in a single, moment everything happens.  
  
Rey’s entire body freezes up under him. Her breath catches in her throat and she squeezes her eyes shut tight as he feels her fall over her edge. She's utterly breathtaking like this, and Ben knows he'd consider himself a lucky man to get to experience this for the rest of forever.   
  
Ben rests his forehead against hers as she comes back to herself, keeping his thrusts shallow as her body continues to tremble with aftershocks. When Rey opens her eyes again, she presses a hard kiss to his mouth, and urges Ben to finish what he started. It doesn't take long until his vision whites out and he’s turning in on himself with the force of his own orgasm, Rey's hands running across his shoulders and down his back as he empties himself inside of her. She kisses him everywhere she can reach; on his jaw and the tip of his nose, against his forehead and on the corner of his lips.   
  
Nothing has ever felt so _right_.  


* * *

  
Who knows how long they lay there, murmuring words of affection and sharing sweet kisses and taking in all of each other. Eventually, _unfortunately_ , they throw their clothes back on and make their way into the house after putting the fire out in the pit. Whatever this is, whatever this delicate thing they are on the precipice of right now is too new and unnamed to risk being caught when their friends awake in the morning. Ben knows they need to have a real discussing about what all went down tonight, but the post coital buzz that his head is still swimming in won't let the words form in his mouth.   
  
Ben leads Rey to the steps of his parents house, his arm drapes across her shoulder as she leans heavily into his side. Reluctantly they part ways in the hallway, a soft kiss shared as Rey heads towards the direction of the room she is sharing with Rose, while Ben has to drag himself in the opposite direction.   
  
He's asleep the moment his head hits the pillow. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can come chat with me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/squire_pod/) or [tumblr](https://bex-xo.tumblr.com/) if you want to! 
> 
> If you liked the update, please drop a comment!


	6. six.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my lord, thank you guys so much for all the comments and kudos last chapter. I so appreciate the support on this little fic. I hope Rey's backstory was as fulfilling to ya'll as it was to me when I delved into it, but this is a reminder that we're only getting things from Ben's POV in this fic. 
> 
> I could cry at ya'll about my amazing beta [weddersins](https://twitter.com/weddersins/) until the cows come home probably. She's awesome and supportive and I love her.

Ben awakes with a start at the familiar sound of an engine he hasn’t heard in years, but would recognize anywhere.   
  
Han Solo is home for Labor Day and he’s still driving that blasted Falcon. Honestly, Ben is shocked it hasn't completely broken down yet. The Falcon was old when _he_ was born, and it's seriously questionable as to how Han has even gotten that thing to pass Pennsylvania's vehicle, but if anyone was going to manage that, it would be his pops.  
  
Not wanting to deal with his father quite yet, Ben rolls over and buries his head underneath his pillow to catch a few more minutes of sleep before he starts the day. Last night was like something out of a movie, and he really can't entirely wrap his brain around all that happened under the stars on his parents back deck. He falls back to sleep with the thought of Rey on his brain. 

 

* * *

  
  
When he finally rouses, Ben’s unsurprised to find his father as the center of attention on the back deck. Rey is wrapped up in last nights blanket and she still looks thoroughly fucked, if he says so himself. Ben is slightly unsure what exactly the protocol is now, last night was something different between them completely, but there was no real discussion of status or what they were now. It was definitely among on the top three things he needed to do this morning, but the need for caffeine outweighs everything else currently, considering the precious few hours of sleep he got last night. So, he grabs a cup of coffee and a muffin and sits in a chair across from her while his father continues to dominate the conversation as per usual.  
  
“Hey kid,” Han says in greeting after he finishes regaling the group with whatever outlandish story Ben hasn’t been paying attention to.  
  
“Pops,” Ben says with a nod of acknowledgment.  
  
The cordial atmosphere that Ben had entered the deck to suddenly shifts with the awkward greeting between father and son. Ben loves his father, there’s no doubt about it, they just don’t have a warm and friendly relationship, and never have. They have always been two very different men, but both undoubtedly stubborn Solo’s according to Leia.  
  
Rey tries to break the tense silence. “Ben, you never told us your father was so charming,” she says grin directed between father and son. Han gives a falsely modest shrug of his shoulders, which of course causes Ben to audibly snort.  
  
“So I’ve heard,” Ben mumbles into his coffee mug.  
  
Rey just quirks her head to the side for a moment, as if there’s something on the tip of her tongue that she is going to say, but instead turns her attention back to Han and continues to talk with Ben’s father while basically ignoring him. It shouldn't bother him as much as it does, considering they didn't discuss anything last night, but Han being the center of attention is something that has _always_ managed to get under his skin.  
  
After finishing his cup of coffee, Ben makes to get up and head towards the kitchen. He catches Rey's eye momentarily and throws what he hopes is a discreet wink her way before he heads inside. Han quickly scrambles to his feet and follows in after him, obviously wanting to discuss something with his son, much to Ben's internal dismay.  
  
“Sorry about that kid,” Han gruffs with his signature lopsided grin.  
  
Ben just shrugs his shoulders in a noncommittal manner. He's already on the edge and they haven't shared more than a dozen or so words with each other.   
  
“If I had known your girlfriend was going to be here, I would have been here to greet you all on Friday son.”  
  
Ben freezes at the word girlfriend, because despite the out of this world sex they had last night, admitting that to his father just feels like too much right now. Ben doesn't even know for sure Rey even want's _to be_ his girlfriend- no matter how much he hopes that to be true- and labeling this new and delicate thing without her input feels wrong.   
  
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he says defensively, arms crossed over his broad chest, as he glares down at his father.  
  
Han rolls his eyes. “Whatever you say kid.”  
  
If there is one thing Ben has always been annoyed with his father over, it is Han’s ability to be dismissive of practically anything that Ben has ever really had to say about anything. The all out fight they had when Ben abandoned the college plans his parents had been making for him to enlist in the Marines was an excellent example of that. Han, and Leia if he's being completely transparent, simply did not want to hear that Ben didn't have the direction they hoped he did. And for whatever reason, this moment right here just rubs Ben the wrong way, and without even thinking too much about it, he just reacts.  
  
Ben practically throws the empty coffee mug into the sink, where it shatters on contact. “She’s not my goddamn girlfriend! There’s nothing going on Dad, she’s nothing to me, we practically hate each other. So just drop it!” he all but shouts as he slams his palms on to the counter top.  
  
Of course, when he looks up, he finds Rey standing against the door frame, obviously having seen the entire conversation. He reaches out for her on instinct, but she just flinches away.   
  
Rey looks utterly heart broken.  
  
“If you’ll excuse me,” she mutters as she rushes past them and towards the staircase.  
  
Han looks from where Rey is heading up the stairs and back at Ben, his eyebrows raised, and he opens his mouth to say something but thinks better of it and turns back to the coffee pot to refill his mug.  
  
“Fuck,” Ben mutters as he wipes a single hand down his face before he slams his fist into his mother’s granite counter top.  
  
The pain is instant and yeah, Ben’s a fucking idiot, he knows this. He's just absolutely ruined everything in the span of 5 minutes.   
  
Leia materializes next to his elbow, from where she’s been hovering unseen in a corner of the kitchen and pulls a bag of peas out of freezer.  
  
“Take this and go get changed. I’ll drive you to Hamot, you’re going to need an x-ray Ben,” his mother says with a sympathetic pat on his cheek.  
  
Ben does what he’s told and ignores the pull in his gut that is calling him to head down to Rey's room.

 

* * *

   
Several hours later when Ben and his mother return from the hospital, he finds a quickly written note from Poe on the pillow in his bedroom. In his best friends hasty scrawl he explains that Rey was very upset about something, and they packed up to leave when Leia had called to let Han know that Ben had only dislocated his knuckles instead of breaking them.  
  
Ben throws himself against his bed and fishes his cell phone out of his pocket. There are no missed calls or messages from Rey, Finn or Poe, and he wouldn’t expect to have any from Rose since they had only met a handful of times anyway.   
  
He presses the button to call Rey but is sent directly to her voice mail and Ben can’t really find it in himself to say anything he knows she needs to hear, not in a voice mail anyway, so he presses end call and decides that sleep might be the best decision he has made all day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I could say I was sorry, but I'm really not. We need some drama here right? No worries though, that HEA guaranteed tag is up there for a reason ya'll. 
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/squire_pod/) and [tumblr](https://bex-xo.tumblr.com/)!


	7. seven.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You could start by talking to her,” Poe tells him one late October evening over Yuengling and play-off baseball. 
> 
> Ben sighs. “She doesn’t want to talk to me. She’s avoided every single one of my calls and texts. I feel like a freaking stalker Poe.”
> 
> His friend looks thoughtfully for a moment before draining the last of his beer. “You know, you never explained what exactly happened. All I know is Rey was upset and you punched a granite counter top like a moron. Then we left when Han got the all clear from Leia, because despite everything Finn and Rose tired, they could not get Rey to stop crying. I thought you said you were going to be careful with her?”
> 
> "Yeah well, I'm a known fuck-up Poe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not mean to take this long to post this, but life just happens that way sometimes. I'm sorry for the pain of the last chapter, Ben Solo is an Eternal Dumbass, we been knew y'all. 
> 
> Much love to my beta, [weddersins](https://twitter.com/weddersins/), for her ability to make sense of my writing!

As September rolls into October, Ben decides he has officially been ghosted by Rey.  
  
Okay, maybe not entirely ghosted, he knows she’s around; he hears her laughing in Poe’s apartment and has seen her here and there around their local spots. She just resolutely refuses to acknowledge his presence, avoids eye contact and retreats from any shared space they have happened to come into. He's pretty sure he watched her scurry out of Rose Tea Cafe on Craig a few days ago when he stopped in to pick up his carryout, only from seeing the loopy three buns she favored to wear on the back of her head.   
  
Honestly, he's not even entirely sure what all she overheard of his conversation with his father, just that it was clearly enough to make her never want to see his face again.

He really fucked up and he’s not even sure how to fix it. 

 

* * *

  
  
“You could start by talking to her,” Poe tells him one late October evening over Yuengling and play-off baseball.   
  
Ben sighs. “She doesn’t want to talk to me. She’s avoided every single one of my calls and texts. I feel like a freaking stalker Poe.”  
  
His friend looks thoughtfully for a moment before draining the last of his beer. “You know, you never explained what exactly happened. All I know is Rey was upset and you punched a granite counter top like a moron. Then we left when Han got the all clear from Leia, because despite everything Finn and Rose tired, they could not get Rey to stop crying. I thought you said you were going to be careful with her?”  
  
"Yeah well, I'm a known fuck-up Poe."  
  
His best friend throws a level glare across the living room at him and with a very reluctant deep breath, Ben launches into the story from the start. Way back to March and that fateful house party and their promise of it only being a one-time thing that quickly turned into a several times a week thing. Ben tells Poe of all the sneaking off, of all the times that they had been out with Poe and Finn only to run off at the end of the night and end up tangled up together.  
  
“So, what happened that weekend in Erie?”  
  
To try and explain exactly that happened that weekend would be impossible. It was so much in such a short time, and it’s not Ben’s place to tell Poe about Rey’s childhood, that story is hers alone. He's certain Poe knows some things, whatever bits and pieces of that part of Rey's life she's shared with their mutual friends, but discussing any of it feels like a betrayal regardless to their current circumstances.  So Ben settles for telling Poe about their night on his parents deck and the feelings they had let themselves start to feel and act upon.  
  
“We just. Connected. In an entirely different way than we had before.”  
  
Poe gives him a look that clearly means he’s searching for more than that as an answer.  
  
“It wasn’t just fucking Poe. The term might be cheesy, but it was making love under those stars.”  
  
All credit to Poe, the guy doesn’t even bat an eyelash at the term Ben uses. Instead he just nods his head in understanding and gestures for Ben to continue his story.  
  
“I got pissed at Han. You know how our relationship has always been. Rocky at the best of times. He called her my girlfriend and it just set me off when he was dismissive of my denial. So, I shattered my coffee mug and yelled at him, and she saw the whole thing,” Ben finally admits with his head in his hands.  
  
“You scared her Ben. I don’t know a whole lot about her childhood, but I know enough that she can be skittish with violent men.”  
  
Ben looks up at Poe and gives him a look of disbelief. “I’m not violent Poe. I mean, I have had anger issues in the past, but I’m not like that anymore. You know that.”  
  
“Yeah, I do buddy. You’re completely different from when we were in the service together. Rey doesn’t though,” Poe explains with a sympathetic tone.  
  
“What do I do?” Ben asks and cringes in on himself when he hears just how pathetic he truly sounds. He is a miserable man.  
  
Poe clasps him on the shoulder. “Give her time bud. Just give her time.”

 

* * *

  
  
October flows into November, and before Ben knows it is Thanksgiving and he’s back in his parents house. He hates it here more than ever now, because he can still see her in these spaces, as if she's always been here, as if she belonged.  
  
He throws a silent prayer of thanks up to whatever deity that might be listening that Leia doesn't ask him any prying questions when he show's up for the long weekend completely alone and hides out in his bedroom under the pretense of studying for nearly all of Thanksgiving.  
  
After the holiday, Ben turns into a medical school zombie. He eats enough to survive, sleeps intermittently and spends every free moment studying, determined to _not_ think about Rey too much and be distracted. His semester finals are coming up and he just needs to make it through the next few weeks with his head intact.

 

* * *

  
  
December is a blur. If it wasn’t for coffee, Ben would probably have failed every single one of his finals. Not because he was unprepared, he knew his course material better than anyone in his year, but because he spends so much time preparing that he hardly sleeps these days. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that he knows that he has one semester left before he starts his internship and is on his way to officially being a doctor. Finally.  
  
Christmas comes and once again, he trudges north to his parents’ home in Erie. The city is cold, wet and snowy, and while he's forever grateful they don't live in the outer county in the snowbelt, the crisp white of fresh snow would be much more appealing than the dirty slush that lines the city streets.  
  
He reluctantly spends time with his family, both his parents occupying their shared home for more than a handful of hours for what feels like the first time in recent memory. Ben finds himself talking to Han more often than he ever has, and the two men come to an accord of sorts; Ben will try to communicate in more than grunts from now on as long as Han does his best to no longer be so dismissive of him.   
  
"Look kid, it's aint gonna be easy for me, you know? But I'm willing to try," his father says gruffly over a shared pot of coffee a few days after Christmas.   
  
Ben nods. "I know Pops. I am too. It's time for me to start acting like an adult and own up to my shit."  
  
Han eyes him for a moment before he gives his son a shrug. "So you're gonna fix things with that girl of your's right?"  
  
"I'm going to try, if she'll let me. Hopefully I get that chance to apologize for being a dick at the least, and if she wants nothing to do with me after that, well who could fault her?"   
  


* * *

  
  
Ben finds himself at his moms New Years Eve party all alone a few days later. Moving away from the city at such a young age put a strain on the very few personal relationships he even had in high school, Ben's not even sure who is still in Erie to begin with.  
  
And then Bazine Netal walks in the door.   
  
Bazine Netal, the _one who got away_ all those years ago. They had been a couple for most of high school, until Ben left for basic training shortly after graduation. They were too young for Ben to expect anything from her, and so they went their separate ways. Her presence was familiar and comforting, though Ben had no intention of letting her worm her way back into his arms for the night. If anything, his recent experience with _one time things_ had taught him that there was really no such thing.  
  
One drink turned into two and then into three. Bazine flirted; batted her eyelashes, touched Ben’s arm, basically she was throwing herself at him and he was loath to admit it wasn’t tempting under the haze of the liquor coursing through his blood stream. He hadn't been with anyone since that last night with Rey, but the very thought of being with anyone else made him sick to his stomach.   
  
“I can’t do this Bazine,” he says as he all but rips himself away from her.  
  
His ex girlfriend looks momentarily stunned before she schools her face into that cool and calculated look she was known for during their teenage years.   
  
“Why not Benny?” Bazine purs into his ear, her fingernails clutching at the lapels of his jacket.   
  
Very carefully, Ben places his hand over Bazine's and gently pulls her hands off of him before taking a full step back.  
  
“Because I’m in love with someone else, and you deserve better than that,” Ben declares with all the certainty that he can muster.  
  
"I don't see anyone else here with you Ben, trust me when I say I don't mind."  
  
Ben takes another step back, puts as much distance between himself and his women he realizes he really doesn't know anymore, and runs a frustrated hand through his hair.   
  
"But I do, and she would too. See you around Baz," he says with a raise of his hand as he heads down the hallway to his bedroom.   
  
Ben pulls his phone out of his pocket and dials the number of the one person he knows would pick up regardless of time.   
  
" 'lo? Ben?" Poe says as he picks up midway through the third ring.   
  
"How do I do it Poe? How do I get the girl?" Ben asks as he flops himself back onto his bed with sigh.   
  
He can practically hear Poe's grin through the phone. "I thought you'd never ask."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/squire_pod/)   
>  [tumblr](https://bex-xo.tumblr.com/)
> 
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> let me know what you think?


	8. eight.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As it turns out, fate has other ideas of how life is going to work out. Despite Poe's relentless plotting and scheming, it's nearly impossible for him to get the chance to throw Ben and Rey together, and not for lack of trying. The last semester of medical school is the single most exhausting thing Ben has ever experienced, including his deployment in the Middle East, much to the dismay of his loyal best friend. 
> 
> But when March comes around, Mother Nature sees fit to bless them again with an unseasonably warm weekend, and Ben finds himself at another house party hosted by Poe. He's not entirely convinced her should even be there, but Poe insists that everything is cool.
> 
> Rey is there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for the delay! February was A Month for me, and I'm finally starting to feel more like myself, so back to writing. 
> 
> Thank you all for the kudos, comments and subs. This little fic was a lot of fun to write. I hope to post the smutty epilogue this weekend to wrap this up!

As it turns out, fate has other ideas of how life is going to work out. Despite Poe's relentless plotting and scheming, it's nearly impossible for him to get the chance to throw Ben and Rey together, and not for lack of trying. The last semester of medical school is the single most exhausting thing Ben has ever experienced, including his deployment in the Middle East, much to the dismay of his loyal best friend.   
  
But when March comes around, Mother Nature sees fit to bless them again with an unseasonably warm weekend, and Ben finds himself at another house party hosted by Poe. He's not entirely convinced her should even be there, but Poe insists that everything is cool.  
  
Rey is there.  
  
Rey is there and she’s not running. Instead, she’s keeping her distance, but she doesn't turn tail the moment she spots from Ben across the yard. Ben takes that as a good sign, contemplates ways to break the ice with her before he falls into a cycle of self doubt and attempts flee out of the front door.   
  
Of course Poe catches him with his hand on the door knob.  
  
“Talk to her,” Poe tells him with a poke to his chest and a well meant look.  


* * *

  
It takes another beer and a whole lot of self-motivating pep talks before Ben finds the courage to go and look for Rey again. She most definitely saw him make his mad dash across the backyard, and is probably laughing with one of the girls he recognizes from the building about the weird med school student who looks like he could sleep for 600 years and still have bags under his eyes.     
  
It’s a twisted sort of fate that he finds her in the bathroom where they first hooked up. It's not his fault she left the door ajar as she scrubs away at some sort of spill on one of her many CMU t-shirts, he just takes advantage of the convenience of it all.   
  
“Solo,” she says in greeting when she finally finds him lingering outside of doorway. Her mouth is in a thin line, lips pressed together in annoyance, but her eyes- those hazel eyes he had come to love- were sad. Ben's heart aches when he realizes it's because of him.  
  
“I thought we were past that,” he starts as he runs his hand through his hair. “At least it seemed like we were on the first name basis.”  
  
“Ben. Can we not?”  
  
Ben takes another step into the bathroom, embolden by the alcohol coursing through his veins.   
  
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Rey. I didn’t mean to lose my temper like that. Han just… my father gets under my skin so easily,” Ben explains as he steps closer and reaches his hand out to hover over her shoulder. "I'm sorry I scared you, that's not who I am anymore and I regret acing that way."  
  
Rey turns on him with fury in her eyes. “You think I’m upset about you fighting with your dad? Holy shit Ben, I understand fighting with your dad. I might be parentless, but I get it. No Ben, you said I was _nothing_. You said that less than twelve hours after the most amazing night of my life and I just felt so… used.”  
  
She has tears in her eyes and _fuck_ does Ben feel like an asshole. Because he doesn’t remember saying that, not exactly, but he knows for _certain_ that he said that. Because he's a dick and it's exactly the sort of thing he would say while raging at Han.   
  
“Fuck. Rey. I didn’t mean that. I would never mean that. You're not nothing. You're everything to me.”  
  
Quick as a flash she is up in his face, and Ben just lets her, because he would let her do anything. The fury her eyes held just seconds ago is already gone, but the sadness he saw there remains. His fingers long to reach out and touch her, but she would run and he knows he would just let her go, and this would be over before he even has a chance to tell her what he needs to.   
  
“How am I supposed to know that’s true?” she asks, her breath mingling with his.  
  
It’s now or never.  
  
“Because I love you Rey. Because I’m an idiot and I’m in love with you and I just want you to forgive me. Please,” he says as he cautiously lifts a hand to cup her jaw and rest his forehead against hers.  
  
The noise Rey makes is a mix of a sob and gasp, and the next thing Ben knows Rey’s lips are pressed to his.  
  
"I love you too," she half cries as he cradles her head in his hands, his lips traveling across her face as she clutches at his shoulders.   
  
Eventually the clutching turns to more desperate touches and Rey’s yanking at his clothes and he’s helping her remove only what is necessary here in Poe's bathroom once again. Ben hasn’t carried a condom in months, he hasn't had the need for one since they were last together, so he pulls away to rifle through Poe’s medicine cabinet in hopes he’ll find one there. Rey is quick to protest his mouth leaving hers though and yanks his head back down to hers.   
  
“It’s okay. I got an IUD months ago, right after Labor Day.”  
  
“We weren’t together then,” Ben starts before Rey shuts him up with another searing kiss. Not that he minds all the kissing, it's remarkable just how much he _missed_ something so simple as kissing while they were broken up- or whatever it was they were.   
  
“I had the appointment made in late August and decided just to keep it after everything. It was convenient for a variety of health reasons. I haven’t been with anyone since that last time though Ben. I couldn't bear the thought.”  
  
Ben rests his forehead against hers and rubs their noses together. “Me neither. I mean- the sex part. Between school and missing you, I couldn't. But if we’re gonna do this, were doing it right. Come on. Get your clothes, we’re headed upstairs.”  


* * *

  
As quietly as they can, Ben and Rey leave Poe’s party and head up to Ben’s apartment. They have been together in his place multiple times, but Rey has never seen his bedroom in all this time. It's not exactly kept to it's usually pristine conditions, he's been so busy with school ending that he's really been putting off regular things. Like laundry.   
  
He's fairly certain he changed his sheets last week though.  
  
“It’s a mess in here, sorry,” he says as he shoves Rey up against the wall in his bedroom. Their hands are all over the place, pulling and tugging and shimmying out of their respective clothes.  
  
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” she replies as she slips out of the barely there scrape of lace and cotton she considers underwear.  
  
The laugh she gives him as he tosses her on to his bed makes his heart soar, and when he kneels between her legs to taste her again, he’s surprised that she pulls his hair until he’s up and kissing her mouth.  
  
Instead, she directs him to settle between her thighs and he holds his weight up over her, stares down into her eyes and knows everything is going to be alright. They have a lot to talk about, there will definitely be more tears involved, and he'll be making things up to her for the rest of their lives if she lets him.   
  
“Ben, I missed you. And this,” she says as he lines his cock up with her entrance and sinks into her for the first time in months.  
  
It feels like coming home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the main story is complete! I'm so proud of this little piece of fiction, I told the story I wanted to and enjoyed so much getting to write something set locally for me. Thanks again for all the comments, kudos and subs, I really do appreciate all of them. 
> 
> A smutty epilogue is coming! 
> 
>  
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/squire_pod/)  
> [tumblr](https://bex-xo.tumblr.com/)


	9. epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's still not sure how he so easily convinced her to move in with him so quickly. 
> 
> "Think about it Rey, it beats that shoebox of a place you were planning on sharing with Rose this summer," he had crooned into her ear post-coital only two weeks ago. 
> 
> And really, once he implanted the idea into her brain, the logical part of her couldn't really argue with it. After everything that they had been through the last year, she knew that they would be able to survive living together, and if she turned out to be wrong- well Rose was still willing to let her move into the closet-like second bedroom of her apartment if necessar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really did not mean to let this one go for so long, considering I had it pretty much written, but I've been dealing with some family matters that have been emotionally draining and I've spent a lot of the last few weeks staring at blank word docs. 
> 
> But here it is, the epilogue to hygtg! Thank you so much for all the support the last few months on this little fic! I really appreciate all the hits, comments, kudos and bookmarks. Ya'll are the best!

If you had asked her a year and some change ago if she ever thought she would actually not only be officially dating Ben Solo, but moving into his apartment to boot, Rey Niima would probably have laughed right in your face. It's not that the idea had never crossed her mind in those first few months of sneaking around with the older, handsome medical student- the occasional thought of pursuing something long term had flickered across her conscious more than once- it was mostly that in June of last year they were still almost constantly at each others throats. Feelings were not apart of their equation until sometime in mid summer, so every time her brain gave her a glimmer of _what if_   she automatically shut it down.   
  
She's still not sure how he so easily convinced her to move in with him so quickly.   
  
"Think about it Rey, it beats that shoebox of a place you were planning on sharing with Rose this summer," he had crooned into her ear post-coital only two weeks ago.   
  
And really, once he implanted the idea into her brain, the logical part of her couldn't really argue with it. After everything that they had been through the last year, she knew that they would be able to survive living together, and if she turned out to be wrong- well Rose was still willing to let her move into the closet-like second bedroom of her apartment if necessary.   
  
“It’s a nice place. Poe’s a great landlord,” Ben says as he drops off the last box in his, no _their_ , apartment.  
  
“It’s in walking distance to my job too!” she agrees excitedly as she fiddles with the brand new key on her key ring.   
  
Ben just laughs at her, in an entirely too enduring way that makes Rey's heart skip a beat. “Yeah, that’s a benefit too I guess.”  
  
Rey just leans up to press a kiss to his cheek, and grins into the smooth skin she finds there. “I’m excited to be here Ben. To be with you. I love you.”  
  
“I love you too,” Ben says as he moves his cheek to capture her lips in his own.  
  
Before anything even has a chance to become heated, they reluctantly pull apart at the knock on their front door. When Ben opens it to reveal Poe, Rey can't help but be a little annoyed. Yeah, their friend knew she was moving in today, and okay he owned the actual building, but would it have killed him to give them some privacy?   
  
“Just wanted to congratulate the happy couple. And mention that the AC units are being a little weird, so watch out for that,” Poe tells them with his signature smile.  
  
"Dameron. I think we've got it, I've lived here for how many years now? The AC has been perfectly fine in all this time. Now, if you could kindly leave," her boyfriend says with tight grin as he ushers their friend out of the front door.   
  
"Don't say I didn't warn you. I've had complaints all day from other tenants, I just wanted to make sure you two were aware. You can get back to christening the place, ya nasties," Poe hollers as Ben shuts the door on him.   
  
Rey wraps her arms around Ben's neck when he comes sliding back on over to her after firmly clicking the lock in place. As if on cue, a sputtering noise comes from the closet that holds the AC unit, causing both of them to jump apart just as their lips meet again.   
  
"Was that..." she asks, eyes big with amusement as Ben runs a hand through his hair and lets out a frustrated groan.   
  
"Yes. It was. Should I call Poe now, or just let it go?"  
  
Rey looks at the closet door, and then back up at Ben's face, noting his drawn eyebrows and pursed lips.   
  
"We can manage for now I think? In fact, I demand the grand tour. We should start in the bedroom," she says as her face breaks into a smile as Ben's does the same.   
  
The speed at which he grabs her hand and half-drags her back into the bedroom that she has gotten to know intimately these past few weeks yanks a surprised squeal out of her. Ben draws out another one when he lifts her and tosses her on to the perfectly made bed, and as she leans back she catches the way his eyes glitter with a mix amusement and devotion as he looms over top of her.  
  
Yeah, she couldn't have predicted this a year ago, but she has never been more pleased to be surprised in her life.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/squire_pod/)   
>  [tumblr](https://theladybex.tumblr.com/)
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you all once again! Until next time!


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